


Galway Girl

by halfalie



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Gen, Slow Burn, everyone is gay and complicated, fiddle playing lena, mentions a bunch of other characters, rock star Kara AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 15:44:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11188260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfalie/pseuds/halfalie
Summary: Kara Danvers, lead singer of hit band Supergirl, can't stand the job she used to love doing. A tragic loss pushes her over the edge and Kara quits and retreats to a small Irish town where she hopes to fall in love with who she used to be. There she meets the eccentric Lena, a fiddle player with wild green eyes and a fuck me up smile. Lena is everything Kara wishes she could be: liberated, content, and absolutely devoted to the music. But Kara's not the only one hiding her past, and relationships get messy when secrets and music mix.Band AU with a twist. Based on Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the band AU no one asked for but I wrote it anyway. It's going to have a lot of reference to Ed Sheeran's music because i'm a gay mess and can't write songs obvi so... 
> 
> Anyway, I have barely proofread this so expect some mistakes! You can come yell at me on tumblr @ kryptolvthor

_Supergirl, Supergirl, Supergirl_ , the chanting echoes and vibrates through the arena. It’s familiar and yet today, right now, it feels strange, distant, almost like the volume’s turned all the way down and yet, Kara covers her ears as she takes deep breaths in over and over again. It’s the alcohol, she tells herself, it has to be. She’s dimly aware that the opening band, Krypto-Night, finished their act almost fifteen minutes ago now but she’s too preoccupied by the phone call from her ex-manager/sister she received only minutes earlier. No, not phone call, Kara hadn’t picked up. But the voicemail was clear, chilling, and now everything is too loud and too quick and Kara wants it all to stop.

She tries to remember the last time she felt like this, hopeless and wasted away into a place where nothing mattered. Before she had the drugs, intended to keep her away from that, keep her numb to everything but her job and the music. And that hadn’t turned out well.

“Oh hey Kara, there you are,” she hears through the haze and when she looks up she finds Mike staring at her with that always-there goofy grin. Mike’s energy is usually contagious, it was why they got along so well to begin with. Well… before the whole label’s PR team began pairing them together, exploiting the possibility of a romantic relationship in exchange for exposure to varying fan bases. Since then their friendship has diminished into the background and Kara’s no longer sure that Mike is “pretending” to be her boyfriend anymore. 

“I have to say, I absolutely killed it out there today. You should see the size of that crowd, truly outstanding.” There’s a pause in Mike’s speech and Kara wonders for just a second if maybe today she’ll get lucky and Mike will take a hint and leave her alone for the five minutes she still needs to get her bearings. 

Except Kara figures her luck had ran out mid tour when Jeremiah, her adoptive father, became ill and everything went to shit. She figures her luck ran out when Alex left four weeks ago while they were in Asia, fuming and angry at Kara for her selfishness. But it wasn’t selfishness. It still isn’t. It’s _fear_. So yeah, she figures her luck was out.

“Oh.. What’s wrong? Did I do something?” Mike questions, more concerned about himself than Kara. She should be used to it by now, has seen the way Mike thinks only about himself and how awesome he is. It was only ever convenient for him to sleep with his groupies while Kara was on stage, off stage, hell…. every time Kara turned him down. Meanwhile Kara can’t even look at another person without Mike being angry.

“We’re not dating,” Kara blurts, honesty at full force. Mike’s dumb face stares back at her with that hurt puppy expression he gets when things don’t go his way and Kara nods to herself, more empowered now to keep going and tear him a new one. “Yeah… Yeah… we’re not dating, Mike.” It’s euphoric, and Kara holds on to the fleeting feeling of giving less than a fuck. “You’re selfish, and frankly I can’t be—”

“Kar—”

“I’m not finished. Don’t interrupt me. It’s rude and I don’t need you talking over me.” _Not anymore_. “As I was saying, you’re a selfish and manipulative jerk whose music sucks. And frankly I can’t believe the label insisted on making this a romantic relationship because the idea that Supergirl, a role model for young girls everywhere, would even date a shrill antagonizing colossal… douchebag! who _never_ asks for my consent for anything and can’t keep his disappointing package in his pants is absurd. Your career is like your hairline, Mike; it’s thinning, receding, and I really don’t think you’ll get it back.” Kara lets out a huff and pulls her cellphone out of her pant pocket. “So we’re done.” 

Mike scoffs at that and crosses his arms, his uneven nostrils flaring in clear discontent. And Kara really can’t see how she ever thought Mike was a nice guy. “You really think the label’s going to go for that? Supergirl is tanking, Kara. Face it, you need me and Krypto-Night. Without us you’re just a washed out selfish cocaine princess and Supergirl is done.”

There’s a pause and Kara clenches her jaw as she thinks about what she should have done months ago, when things were getting tough to begin with.

“Then I guess Supergirl is done. Bye Mike,” she rasps before walking around him and in the opposite direction of the stage. 

The chants are quieter now, more distant than they had been minutes ago, and the further Kara gets from it, the better she feels but the less she knows what she’s doing. Her phone vibrates in her hand and Kara looks down at the name on the call display. Winnie. She slows to a stop and swallows as an idea hits her full force.

“Hey,” she says as she answers the call, “I need a favour.”

 

 

* * *

 

The landing is Kara’s least favourite part of flying, has been since she was a little girl. After all, is there anything more terrifying than landing 240 tonnes of metal on pavement at such a great speed that it leaves skid marks? Probably not. It doesn’t help that she had had to listen to Winn second guess her decision with every connecting flight and every take off. _Kara shouldn’t we tell someone? You still have a few months left in tour. You know the label could sue you. Like actually sue you if they wanted._ And yeah, she’s aware. 

But Mike had been right, Supergirl was done, had been for a long time and now Kara would need to hide out the media scandal that was sure to surface with the cancellation of the rest of the tour. Surely something that would be spun into another one of Kara’s downward spirals into drug addiction. Snapper would sell this as Kara going into rehab and the label would profit from all the media attention.

She could see it now, Mike pretending to be choked up as he reminisced on the good memories they had together and how powerless he felt in the face of addiction. And that really, it was better this way, because at least now Kara could get the help she needed. Then Krypto-Night would take a small two weeks hiatus but would make a surprise comeback for the sake of the fans or whatever bullshit reason Snapper could come up with. Kara has seen this before, and this time she’s glad she isn’t actually in rehab while Snapper and the entire Cadmus Music label profits off of her addiction. 

It doesn’t matter anymore, they’re here now, grass and hills stretching as far as the eye can see in one direction and deep ocean water stretching in the other.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Kara?” Winn asks for the millionth time as the tires screech against the pavement. “Cause you’re my best friend and I would go to the end of the earth for you — and with you — but… like… this is a little extreme, even by my standards.” Kara clenches her teeth as the plane roars to a slow. A nervous chuckle leaves her lips and she looks over to her best friend. 

“Didn’t you spend like six months here in between college degrees and when you came back you said that it was, and I quote, ‘the best place to go if you want to blend in and be boring’ unquote?” she says pointedly, releasing a sigh when the plane finally stops.

“Yeah but like… I didn’t think that was a selling point,” Winn replies with a shrug.

“Aww, come on, you loved that trip. You wouldn’t stop talking about this town… and Aedan.”

Winn gives her a credulous look and narrows his eyes. “Oh no, I know that look, Kara Danvers.” Kara shakes her head and pretends like she’s none the wiser, but she knows Winn can read her like a map. “Aedan is one of the only few friends that I have… do not ruin it with your… matchmaking… voodoo stuff.”

“You love my matchmaking voodoo stuff.”

“Name one good match that you found for me,” Winn states dryly. 

“Um.. There was Lyra..?”

“Lyra was a dumpster fire,” Kara laughs and scrunches her nose at that, “I would even go to say she was a landfill fire.” 

“…Yeah she really was. I’m sorry,” Kara says sheepishly.

“ _Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kerry Airport, fáilte Go hAerfort Chiarraí. Local time is 17:33 and it’s currently a fresh 15 degrees outside_ …”  

Kara looks at Winn with a deer in the headlight look. 15 degrees? That’s insane. It sounds cold, even if Kara knows it isn’t in Fahrenheit.

 “You’re the one that wanted to come to Ireland in the middle of fall,” Winn says and Kara adjusts her glasses.

“ _…and safety, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt Signs. Portable electronic devices may now be turned off airplane mode provided they are within reach…_ ”

 Right, her phone. She really doesn’t want to look at the damage she’s done and yet it does nothing to stop her from pressing the little airplane button in the settings menu before quickly locking her phone.

It takes a few minutes and Kara closes her eyes as she waits for the shit storm to hit her phone but when her phone finally buzzes to life, she can’t look, choosing instead to give her phone to Winn.

“How bad is it…?” she asks with her face hidden in her hands. There are a few seconds as Winn hums and scrolls down her lock screen.

“It’s not— I wouldn’t— I— Uh— it’s not bad at all,” he replies, a little higher pitched than usual and Kara groans. “Okay... Yeah it’s pretty bad. Snapper is.. Well.. You know… pissed. Mike… just texted a bunch of sad face angry face emojis. And uh… Alex is also— uh— I…” Winn gets silent and Kara removes her hands from her face. “Kara did you— I think — maybe you should read this?”

“What is it?” she rasps out exasperatedly.

“Did you— were you aware that um... Well Alex says that... Jeremiah’s funeral is— in three days?”

Right. Winn doesn’t know. “Give me that,” she lets out as her sweaty palms find her cellphone.

“Oh my god… Jeremiah passed away?!” Winn expresses in shock before pulling Kara’s phone back, “Kara… What are we even doing here when we should be back in National City!”

“Give me my phone back, I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“Oh no.. You don’t get to not talk about this. Kara this is huge. Alex must be a mess. You—you must be a mess.”

Fuck, Kara really doesn’t want to deal with this right now. She had half convinced Winn that she just needed time away from the spotlight (which was true) and that being around Mike made her skin crawl (also true) but she had conveniently left out the part where her father passed away. She glares at Winn and grabs the top of her phone to gently tug it out of his hands.

“We’re not talking about this,” she whispers harshly, “now stop causing a scene, you’re going to get us noticed.”

“ _And on behalf of Air Lingus and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and wish you a pleasant stay in Kerri, or wherever your final destination may be_.”

It’s better this way, Kara thinks. Alex wouldn’t want to see her there anyway. Not after everything she had put her through in the last year, up until Alex called her selfish (rightly so) and left her to finish the tour solo.

“Aedan is meeting us at the airport, right?” Kara half-asks, eyes glued down the aisle as her foot moves up and down. She feels Winn’s hand gently rest on her leg and Kara blinks back the tears.

“Yeah, he was more than happy to oblige.”

“And he doesn’t know, I’m…” she looks around and then back at Winn… “ You know..”

“Oh Supergirl…?”

Kara’s eyes widen and she lets her arm fly into Winn’s stomach.

" ...is a good band, have you heard of it?” Winn squeaks out, obviously winded. He coughs a few times and Kara looks around, meeting nothing but concerned looks for the passenger beside her.

“Sorry,” she whispers gently to Winn, “I’m trying to blend in.” Her fingers grab the rim of her glasses for reference and Kara pushes them back against her face.

“Okay first of all…” Winn begins after finally regaining his breath, “you are freakishly strong.” Kara shrugs and unclips her seatbelt as everyone around her stands up to grab their bags. “Second of all, you don’t even look anything like.. You know..” He waves his hand around her face, “..without all the eyeliner and the wild sex hair.” 

“Okay, good. Do the glasses work?”

Winn nods and gives her a thumbs up before standing up to grab his bag from the overhead bin. Maybe he can sense Kara’s nervousness or maybe Winn just wants to keep talking about Aedan, but he continues on to say, “Relax Kara. Aedan lives on a farm. I don’t think he even listens to the radio or even knows Supergirl exists. Trust me.. I’m a man, I know the things men listen to.”

 “You have Celine Dion’s entire discography.”

“Okay.. Look…. Fair.. But trust me with this okay?”

Twenty five minutes later, when Kara and Winn have their bag, Kara's finally meets Aedan, and they’re sitting in his tiny 2000 Volvo, Kara all but chokes on her tongue when Aedan asks them if they’re okay with listening to Supergirl. 

If Snapper doesn’t find her and kill her first, she’s sure this trip will.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It turns out the drive to Dingle isn’t completely unbearable. Winn stutters through switching the radio channel after the first song, stating that Supergirl is overplayed anyway, which earns him a punch from Kara (and a laugh from Aedan). But it helps Kara be more open to conversation. At least the likelihood of Aedan recognizing her voice has greatly diminished.

When they pull into the long winding road to Aedan’s farm an hour later, Kara feels immensely more at ease, though the butterflies of lying to herself about everything happening in her real life hasn’t parted with her.

“So Winn, you know where your room is,” she hears Aedan say as she follows him through the door, “at least I hope you remember.” Winn laughs and Kara gives him a look over her shoulder which results in Winn shoving her forward. A dog comes bouncing over and Kara is momentarily distracted.

“Kara, I got the attic dusted off as best I could given the short notice. I hope that’s okay?” 

“That’s great, thank you,” she fiddles with the strap of her bag and then clears her throat, “and thanks for having us over and all. I really appreciate it.” 

“Of course, a friend of Winn’s is a friend of mine,” Aedan replies with a smile, “and it’s been a while since I’ve had a couple of college kids crashing in my farm. I should thank you. I think Lena and I were starting to get complacent and all.”  Lena? Right, the dog. Aedan walks into the kitchen with a few things he had picked up in town on the way in and Kara stays awkwardly in the living room as the dog comes over. 

Kara kneels beside the dog and gently scratches behind her ears. “Couldn’t let you guys get too complacent then,” she states as the dog, Lena, opens her mouth to pant in content. “Lena’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Uh… Lena? Yeah sure.. You could say that. I mean she’s not really my type,” Aedan calls back from the kitchen, “but a lot of people think so.”

“Aww he doesn’t mean that. It’s okay, I think you’re beautiful,” Kara murmurs to the dog.

Kara pats the dog’s head one last time before standing up and grabbing her belongings. Winn had already rushed upstairs to shower and change and hadn’t thought to offer to help Kara. Classic.

“Oh here, I’ll grab that last bag,” Aedan says as he steps back into the living room area. “I’ll let you handle the instrument, wouldn’t want to break it.”

Kara nods her thanks and shoulders her backpack before grabbing onto the handle of her guitar bag and lifting it. She hadn’t intended to bring her acoustic, but Winn had been insistent and argued that either she kept it or Mike greedily took it from her. Fuck that.

“So how long have you had her?” Kara asks as they go up the stairs. Aedan looks at her quizzically.

“You mean—“

“Lena.”

“Oh uh, well I guess she’s been staying with me for a few years now. She’s on and off, sometimes she leaves for a few weeks. I don’t know where she goes and I don’t ask.”

Kara gasps.

“She just leaves? Doesn’t that concern you at all?”

Aedan pauses at the top of the stairs and glances over his shoulder, a weird look in his eyes. “I mean.. Not really I guess? She’s an adult, she can do what she wants. And she can handle herself. Trust me.”

Kara is baffled at that. It’s like Aedan doesn’t even care about the dog at all and Kara is starting to wonder about Winn’s taste in men. If he doesn’t even care for the dog, how could he care for all the other farm animals? 

“Yeah but don’t you like… wonder where she goes?”

Aedan lets out a sigh and puts the bag down beside the door at the top of the stairs. “I mean sure I wonder sometimes but.. It’s her private business and she doesn’t like to talk about it.” He uses his hand to push open the door with a creak and then gently pushes the bag in with his foot. “Here we are… best view of the sunrise in the entire house.”

Kara momentarily forgets the whole Lena dilemma as she steps inside the room. It has that musky smell to it and Kara is reminded of her room back at the Danvers’. Her heart clenches and Kara tightens her grip on her guitar. “Thank you,” she says.

“No problem. Oh and.. Like Lena, if you’re going to make some noise on that thing during the night, please go down by the docks.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, dogs can’t play the guitar,” Kara answers back casually as she trains her eyes around the room, taking in all the inane objects that had obviously been left behind through generations. 

“What?”

“…What?”

“Never mind. I don’t even want to know,” Aedan says, clapping his hands together and giving Kara a lopsided grin, “must be an American thing. I’ll leave you to it and start on dinner, should be ready in about half an hour.”

“Oh okay, do you need some help?”

“Nope, should be good! Thanks, it’s my night to cook anyway, we take rotations. You can cook, right?” 

“…Sure,” Kara lies. Cooking can’t be that hard, right? “I can definitely cook. Some people would say I am like… a great cooker. But… I’m just decent… I think.” 

“You’re lying,” Aedan says teasingly before scratching Lena’s head, “You can help with the dishes. And wait until you’ve had Lena’s ratatouille, now that’s a meal.”

Kara blinks at him a few times, tries to understand where he’s coming from but decides to drop it. Aedan is just great at confusing her. “I think I’m just going to step out on the veranda and uh, hammer out a few chords before dinner then?”

“Sure. Don’t stray too far.”

Ten minutes later, Kara is bundled up in a sweater with the guitar tucked into her lap as she sits in the veranda. Her fingers skim the chords lazily without any pattern. It sounds awful and it feels like she’s touching a guitar for the first time. Kara swallows back the knot in her throat and closes her eyes. Jeremiah had taught her to play acoustic and that tasted bitter in her throat. 

She picks the first few chords of _Bloodstream_ , one of her early hits (before her label made her go pop), fingers fumbling every third note or so. She thinks back to Alex’s voicemail from less than 24 hours ago, desperate and heartbroken, thinks about how she had deleted it without thinking about it. She isn’t a real Danvers, and she doesn’t deserve to bring them down anymore than she already has.

“ _All the voices in my mind calling out across the lines_ …” Her finger skims a particularly bad note and Kara groans in frustration as she pushes the guitar off her lap to thud heavily on the ground. Stupid guitar, stupid Jeremiah, stupid everything.

“I don’t think that’s how you’re suppose to play that,” she hears a teasing feminine voice from behind her and Kara’s neck spasms as she whips her head to face it.

The exterior screen door to the veranda is falling shut behind a young woman, no older than 25, who looks like some sort of woodland fairy. Kara’s mouth drops and she wonders momentarily if she should call for help or if random people showing up unannounced in the back door was a normal Irish thing. The girl is barefoot, wearing loose jeans that are rolled halfway up her calves. She has a thick forest green sweater on and her long black hair is half up and pulled out of her face. Still it’s messy in the organized chaos sense and it only adds to the girl’s look. She’s pale, more pale than Kara if that’s even possible, but her eyes are swirling green, twinkling with underlying humour and age old exhaustion.

“You must be, Kara,” the girl says as she steps further into the veranda and towards Kara. “I don’t think Aedan mentioned anything about you being mute… but if you speak as well as you play guitar then I could see why you wouldn’t want to.”

“I can play very well,” Kara defends immediately, almost getting lost in Lena’s accent. It’s smoother than Aedan’s.

“Oh she speaks! I’m Lena,” the girl says as she extends a hand towards Kara. 

“….” Kara blinks a few times and repeats the words in her head over and over again. “Wait you’re Lena?”

“…I’m fairly certain, yes. That is what I have been going by for the last 24 years, give or take." 

“But I thought… that— never mind it all makes sense now.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“You thought?”

“—What’s the dog’s name?” 

“Brutus,” Lena answers before narrowing her eyes in Kara’s direction. “Wait, did you think I was a dog?” 

Kara ducks her head and joins her hands together nervously as her cheeks flush. She pushes her glasses back against her face and chances a glance in the girl’s direction. “It may have been presented to me that way, yes.” 

“Hey Kara, dinner’s ready,” she hears Winn say as he approaches the veranda. _Thank you, Winn_. Lena’s wild eyes are still trained on her as Winn stumbles over his words. 

“Oh hi, y-you must be Lena. Uh, dinner’s ready.” 

“Winn, right?” 

“Yes ma’am. I’ve heard all about you from Aedan.”

“Likewise,” Lena replies and Kara awkwardly stands up as the two shake hands. 

“Likenot. I have not… heard about Lena at all,” Kara says with a tight lipped smile in Winn’s direction. “Imagine thinking that it might be relevant information so I don’t make an ass of myself.”

“I think your skills with the strings did that all on it’s own, sweetheart,” Lena says with a laugh before stepping into the house. “Now come… Aedan hates when dinner gets cold.

Lena disappears inside the house, Kara groans, and Winn shrugs in her direction.

 Yep, this trip is going to kill her.


	2. Chapter 2

The cool morning has Kara wrapping herself up tightly in the bedsheets to keep herself warm. She’d gone to bed late the previous night, after a fight with an attic spider the side of a golf ball who’d taken a liking to her suitcase. Kara had declared victory of course, after flinging said spider out the window with a broom that was now banished from the room. Considering how cold it is right now, Kara almost feels bad for the spider, surely frozen to death outside. 

She turns over, bed creaking and all, and faces the window on the east side of her bed. With her hand she reaches out and wipes the condensation off to see the sunrise peaking behind the barn. It must be just about five thirty in the morning and Kara lets out a sigh. She can’t even really blame it on the jet lag anymore, knows it was the heaviness of her wasted life that presses on her chest until she wakes up every morning morning. Today it’s heavier, the finality of Jeremiah’s passing now settling deep in her bones, making her ache in the coolness of her bed. She blinks back some tears and wavers out a harsh breath. No, Kara didn’t get to cry. Not after what she’d done, not after the grief she’d cause Jeremiah. 

Her thoughts are interrupted by movement in her vision. It’s Lena, walking barefoot through the backyard in the same clothes she’d been wearing last night during dinner when she had excused herself. Ah, so Lena must be staying in that small house adjacent to the barn. 

So far all Kara knows about Lena is that she is as Irish as they come, given the Gaelic apology she’d thrown to Aedan as she had rushed out the back door at dinner, and that she lives in a barn. Also that she’s a little bit of an asshole. 

Kara lets out a sigh, watches as Lena crosses the backyard with a small fiddle case in her hands and a grin on her face. Lena’s tired, that’s obvious in the way her body sags, and Kara is all too familiar with the post-concert 5 am nostalgia. Still, Kara can’t help but smile as Lena spins around in the untrimmed grass, hopping every other step. Kara isn’t a betting woman, but she’s willing to put money down on the fact that Lena is humming to herself to keep whatever rhythm she seems to be following. 

Lena reaches the door of the groundskeeper’s house and pauses a moment before turning her head towards Aedan’s house to look… right at her. 

Busted, Kara ducks her head from the window and wraps the bedsheets over her head as she squeals, cheeks flushing red. _Calm down, Danvers, it’s not like you were the one dancing._ Kara takes a calming breath. _Yeah but you were watching_. 

A loud groan crosses her lips and Kara turns over to pull herself to the furthest edge of the bed. Her body hits the ground with a loud thump as she flails herself out, attempting her best to stay out of the line of sight of the girl outside. She stays there a couple minutes, now wide awake and shivering in the cold before she chances standing up. 

Lena is gone and Kara lets out a breathy laugh. 

_You’ve toured the world and have had bras thrown at you numerous time, yet a girl catching you stare makes you lose composure._ Kara huffs at her own embarrassment. She considers going back to bed, it’s still early after all but she knows it’s futile: there’s no going back to bed now. Maybe a run in the cold morning air would clear up her head and calm her raging hormones. 

It takes a few sluggish minutes to change into running pants and a black long sleeve shirt, and really Kara’s never been big into running gear but she revels in the comfort it brings. With her shoes laced and her hair up in a ponytail, Kara carefully takes the creaking steps down pass the second floor and into the kitchen. It’s there she find Aedan, who offers Kara a wave as he finishes the food he has in his mouth. 

“Good morning,” Kara says as she steps up to the counter where the coffee machine is. Aedan had offered her and Winn a tour last night after dinner and instructed them to help themselves to whatever they needed and Kara needs coffee before she goes and torture herself. 

“ ‘morning,” Aedan replies eventually. “You’re up early.” 

“Uh yeah, couldn’t sleep in. Thought I’d try getting back into shape again,” Kara answers as she pours herself a cup of coffee. “Any recommendations?” 

Aedan hums as he takes a sip of the orange juice in front of him. “Hm yeah, if you go down by the Marina you’ll see the fish market tents popping up for the morning. Though…” He pauses and seems to think about it before scrunching his face, “not the best thing to smell in the morning. Gorgeous view though. Are you going for a long run?” 

Kara let out a small laugh has she wraps her hands around the warm mug and brings it near her face. “We’ll see how much running actually gets done but hopefully I put a few miles in, yeah.” 

Aedan finishes his drinks and put his dishes in the sink before smiling in Kara’s direction. “Well then, if you come back early I could always use help with fertilizing the fields. No rush though. I think Winn should be up soon.” 

“Oh sure, yeah I’d love to help. I won’t be too too long.” 

“Cool. See you out there then.” 

 

* * *

 

True to her word, Kara jogs into the backyard an hour and a half later, chest heaving as she struggles to regain a normal breathing pattern. She’s surprised to stare out her bedroom window find Winn and Aedan hard at work. Winn has never been much of a labourer, and yet he’s in full farmer mode, plaid and all, as he helps Aedan plow the ground. 

It’s an interesting set up: the house followed by the yard, followed by the barn and then the fields, and Kara has to walk past Lena’s barn house to get to the boys. Directly north of where Lena is staying, there’s a path separating Lena’s place from an orchard of various trees. She considers trying to go back to bed but then remembers that Aedan’s kind of expecting her now. And anyway, Lena went to bed the minute she came home. Kara changes into slightly warmer and more suitable shirt before heading back out and down the path towards Aedan and Winn.

Lena is not asleep, as Kara quickly learns.

She’s too busy staring at Lena’s barn house that she fails to be aware of her surroundings. And it’s a loud whistling to the left of her that makes Kara almost jump out of her sneakers. Kara turns towards the source of the noise, only to be met with the sight of Lena sitting up in an apple tree, eyes boring into her.

“Do Americans not say good morning?” Lena asked her, that annoying teasing tone in her voice and damn it if doesn’t warm Kara right up. There’s a pause as Lena grabs an apple out of the tree and places it in a nearby basket, a mundane task that makes Kara reconsider her position on whether or not apple picking can be sexy. “Or do they just stare at you from their bedroom windows?”

“You saw that, huh?” 

“You have a very distinct stare,” Lena replies and Kara’s cheeks flush as she pushed her glasses back against her face. Her embarrassment goes unnoticed to Lena, who just presses on teasing, “Nice lulu lemon pants, perfect for farming.” 

“I went for a run,” Kara replies with a huff, her hands burying into her armpits as she crosses her arm. 

“That’s ambitious. Had to work some steam off?” 

Kara’s mouth drops and Lena lets out a laugh. “Relax, Kara, I’m just teasing.” 

The teasing’s the problem, Kara thinks to herself. In an attempt to change the topic of conversation, Kara steers it back to Lena, desperate to talk about anything other than Kara’s… steam. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

Lena picks a few more apples off the branch above her before letting out a sigh. “No, not really.” 

“How are you awake right now, I used to…” Kara stops herself before she finishes her sentence, because maybe telling the other girl she used to pass out after a long night of partying isn’t really the way to remain incognito. Or make that good of an impression. 

“I told Aedan I’d help out picking fruits today so he can sell them at the market tomorrow, exhaustion be dammned.”

Kara steps closer and then looks over to where Aedan and Winn plowed away. “Do you want a hand?” she chances, “I’m not sure they’ll be able to use my help.”

“That depends…” 

“On?” 

“Are you better at apple picking than you are at guitar playing?” 

Kara laughs and steps closer, a playful glint in her eyes. “You know, Lena, it’d be a shame if someone were to remove this ladder,” she says, patting the wooden ladder leaning against the tree Lena is cooped up in, “and you got stuck in that tree.” 

Although it’s not intended to sound like a challenge, Lena lets out a laugh and drops down her basket full of apples before swinging herself upside down on the branch and lowering her legs low enough that she could jump. It’s impressive, and Kara begins to wonder if there’s anything Lena can't look good doing.

“I don’t think we were properly introduced, I was too busy being a bit of an asshat last night,” Lena say softly, “and then I took off on you guys during dinner. ‘mfraid I haven’t made the greatest of impressions.” 

_Oh you’ve made an impression alright_. 

“No no, it’s alright,” Kara says quickly as she picks up the apple basket and hands it to Lena

“I never got your last name,” Lena says and Kara’s brain short circuits. Really she should have planned for this in advance. Wasn’t the first rule of pretending to be someone else a name change?

“It’s um, Schott,” Kara improvises and scores herself a mental point for her quick wittiness. 

“Like Winn?”

“Yeah he’s my… distant cousin, something about being removed once or twice, I forget really, it’s a big family tree.” 

Lena gives Kara an incredulous look, there’s a little bit of disgust in there and Kara wonders why Lena would have that type of reaction. 

“Um is something wrong?” 

That seems to snap Lena out of her trance and she clears her throat before grabbing onto the ladder and walking towards another tree. “Uh no not quite,” the girl says unconvincingly. Kara just stares back until Lena talks again.

And then, like she’s about to tell her a secret, Lena leans close into Kara and says lowly. 

“It’s just that.. Aedan told me Winn used to have a crush on you so…” It takes a few seconds for Kara to realize the implication but when she does, her face goes on a journey she’s sure Lena will remember. Because ew, cousins being romantically involved. Weirdness. Winn’s crush a faded faded memory and not at all pleasant for Kara to be reminded off. And then realization that now that she has fibbed (sort of) she kind of has to stick with it. 

“Winn’s… very close to his… Southern Roots.” Goddamn, Kara should get an oscar in improv. Lena raises an eyebrow at her and takes a step back as Kara whispers knowingly, “you know they just sleep with anyone down there… Not me though! Definitely not me, I’m not like that”. 

And then, like clouds parting to make way for the sun, Lena throws her head back and lets out a loud laugh. Kara’s been to so many concerts, heard so many songs, and instruments, and noises, but nothing’s as melodic as Lena’s laugh.

“I’m glad you’re not,” Lena says softly, once the laughter has calmed. “Are you going to help me with these apples or what?” 

“I don’t know, someone seems to think I’m incapable of picking apples.” 

In a grandiose gesture, Lena motions to the ladder with her hands and silently dares Kara to show her what she’s made of. Kara’s done intense choreography and movie stuns, so picking apples should be a piece of cake.

“The fourth step is a little unstable, so be careful,” Lena says as Kara approaches her. 

There’s a hint of concern in Lena’s voice that makes Kara’s cheeks flush and her hands sweaty. She tries not to think about how the rest of her body is a little sweaty from the run and wonders if her face is still red. Instead she focuses on grabbing onto the ladder, which looks questionably unstable, and pulling herself up. She reaches the fourth step, and carefully puts her foot down. Lena’s hand is hovering on her back and Kara’s more determined more than ever now not to make an ass of herself. When it holds, Kara grins triumphantly and quickly takes the next step up. Big mistake. The fifth step snaps under her foot and Kara feels the air whoosh from under her as her sweaty hands slip out of their grip. It’s not really a big drop, and Kara doesn’t get to dwell on it for long because Lena’s hand slips around her waist and she’s pulled away from the ladder and into Lena’s hold. 

She can feel the other girl’s breathy laughter on her neck as Lena sets her down, and Kara’s skin breaks out into goosebumps. Lena doesn’t seem to notice, she’s still laughing as she pulls away and Kara turns to face her. If her face hadn’t been red before, it surely was now.

Maybe it’s a sick twisted joke that Lena makes everything look effortless while Kara makes it look like she’s got potatoes for hands and grass blades for legs. 

One of Lena’s hand is covering her mouth as she tries to quiet down her laughter and Kara glaring at her only makes her giggles greater. After a few minutes of Kara huffing and crossing her arms, Lena quiets down enough to offer her a lopsided smile. 

“It’s like you don’t listen to me.” 

“You said the fourth step,” Kara replies indignantly, hands uncrossing and falling at her side in defeat. 

 

“Yes I did, and that is the fourth step.” She’s two seconds away from arguing it but snaps her head around to look at the ladder only to find that not only is she an embarrassing person, but now Lena probably thinks Kara can’t count. 

“Still jet lagged, Schott?” It takes a second for Kara to remember that, yes that is her last name and she rolls her eyes before gently shoving Lena aside. 

“Something like that, being around you is killing my brain cells.” 

“You offered to help!”

“Alright alright, what can I do to redeem myself?” Kara asks, hands tangling together in front of her. Lena seems to think about it, and Kara sees the transition from confident to nervous as Lena seems to build up the courage to say something.

“Come watch me play tonight?” It’s a question, not a statement, and Kara is too shell shocked to say anything. Music was a trusting thing and somehow being asked to come was a big deal to Kara. Aedan had only said Lena was in a band last night, and she assumed it was for fiddling.“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. It’s just… a real Irish experience. Aedan is coming.”

That last phrase seems like a bit of an afterthought but Kara figures it’s because the promise of Aedan coming means that Winn will most likely come and Kara doesn’t have to go alone.

“No yeah, sure, I’ll come.” Lena’s smile breaks across her face and it’s one Kara can’t help but return. 

“Cool, I’m going to… sleep now, probably. I’ll get the rest this afternoon, when it’s a little warmer and there’s _no-one_ to distract me from my job.” 

Kara rolls her eyes again and turns in the direction of the house. She’s considering going back to sleep as well, still tired from the previous nights and the last 6 months of her life. That’s the winning thought, and Kara offers Lena a soft blessing for a good rest before turning around and marching back towards the house. 

When her back hits the bed, Kara tries not to think about the way Lena’s breath felt on her neck, or the way her arms felt wrapped around her waist. She tries not to think about the way Lena’s accent lulls her to safety or how expressive Lena’s eyes were. And Kara definitely tries not to think about how nervous Lena got asking her to come tonight. Because she was just being friendly, they were just being friendly, and Kara did not need to blow anything else out of proportion. Instead she closes her eyes and counts her breath until she finally falls back into slumber. 

 

* * *

 

 

It’s 9:15 in the evening by the time Kara and the boys make their way into town and Lena’s band started their gig at 9. They would have been there sooner, they really would have, if Winn hadn’t taken so long to get ready. All his button up shirt look the same to Kara but apparently, put one on and lets go isn’t the advice Winn was looking for. 

Kara hates being late, it’s a reminder of the crazy shit the label used to make her do before concert, starve the fans from content until they begged for her to come on stage. That usually worked, too bad Kara hadn’t shown up at all the last time. 

The first thing she notices as she walks into the pub is the warm air from the fireplace in the corner and the hooting and hollering of the patrons. It’s packed, probably a fire safety hazard, and people around her are laughing as they stand about with their drinks. There’s a strange sense of everyone knowing each other in here and Kara basically grabs onto Winn’s hand to maneuver them towards the bar. She realizes that there’s no music playing right now, instead Kara can hear the sound of instruments being shifted around and Kara figures they’ve missed a few of the first songs.

She turns back to face the bar only to bump into none other than Lena. 

“Oh hey!” Lena exclaims. “You came.” Her cheeks are a tinge of pink and Kara figures that the reason Lena left at seven was for a few drinks of liquid courage. Classic.

“Of course,” Kara replies, trying to project her voice over everyone's laughter.

There’s the sound of someone tapping on the mike and Lena smiles as a man, presumably the lead singer, calls out to her. “Hey Lena, you want to stop chatting and bring us those drinks?”

Lena laughs and Kara joins in and then the bartender sets a tray of shots in front of Lena. “Gotta go,” she says before maneuvering her way back through the crowd and towards the stage.

Kara manages to wish her luck about two minutes too late and Winn elbows her to bring her attention back to the bar so that she can order. 

“Thanks for the drink, Bryan!” the male says into the mike, “ _Sláinte_.” 

It’s echoed back to them and Kara watches as Lena and the rest of the band take their respective shots, Lena’s face scrunching in clear distaste. Winn manages to order for them and Kara is thankful to see he’s gotten her something that doesn’t have any alcohol in it. This cleanse thing needs some work, she figures. 

“Lets drink the night away,” the male says in the microphone and suddenly a combination of drums, harmonica, and fiddle break out into the air, earning a cheer from the patrons in the bar. Kara’s never really heard anything like it and she finds her mouth drying at the sight of Lena’s effortless playing of the string instrument. Lena’s drunk as a skunk, and yet it doesn’t take away from her focus to what she’s doing. There’s a smile threatening to take over Lena’s face and her cheeks are even more red in the spotlight and Kara is for sure a goner now. 

She doesn’t listen to the lyrics the lead singer sings, choosing instead to focus on Lena and how she sometimes joins in the harmonize with the lead. It isn’t towards the end of the song that Lena manages to catch Kara’s eyes and Kara offers her a small wave. The song slows down and Lena places her fiddle at her side while waving at Kara with her bow. 

“ _When the sky is grey, look out to sea. When the waves are high and the light is dying, we’ll raise a glass and think of me… when I’m home again, boys, I’ll be buying_!” 

It’s over before Kara knows it and Lena doesn’t hesitate before transitioning into the next song. Although this isn’t really the type of music Kara listens to, she can’t help but tap her foot against the floor and clap along to the beat. There’s something absolutely magical about the way Lena and her band transform Kara to a different place, one where Kara feels like dancing and drinking and forgetting everything else.

Midway through the song, Lena puts her fiddle down and her and the lead singer exchange a series of intricate tap dance movements. Lena’s laughing the whole time and Kara joins in even though she knows the crowd and the music will surely drown her out. She quickly realizes that Lena is trying to repeat a pattern that the lead singer sets out and it’s not until Kara pays close attention that Lena only gets halfway through a repetition only for her feet to tangle and Kara does a little mental victory dance at the fact that Lena might not be as graceful drunk as she is sober. _Try climbing a ratty old ladder now_.

It’s fun, and Kara forgets, and honestly that’s all she needs right now. 

Lena wraps up around midnight and comes off the stage covered in a thin layer of sweat. Kara knows because Lena finds her and wraps her up into a hug that’s a little too warm and wet for her comfort. 

“I’m so happy you came!” 

“This is insane,” she says back, leaning back so that Lena can hear her. 

“Welcome to Ireland!” Lena takes another shot and then grabs Kara by the hand before dragging her towards the stage. “You have to meet the band,” she calls over her shoulder as she guides them through the crowd that’s now dancing to music Kara’s never heard of. 

“Cado!” Lena exclaims as they reach the four males that make up the rest of the band. “This is Kara.”

The lead singer, Cado, extends his hand towards Kara and smiles. “Hey, Cado.” 

“Kara this is Cado, and Adam, Sean, Rheinard,” each movement is accompanied by a vague gesture in their direction and Kara, although sober, knows she’s never going to remember any of their name. “This is my friend and the best apple picker in Dingle, Kara Schott.”

Kara laughs and so does the rest of the band, obviously used to Lena’s contagious drunken energy. “Kara plays the guitar.” That makes her stop and Kara clears her throat.

“Really?” Cado exclaims. 

“I’ve been known to… dabble…” she replies. It’s then that she realizes Lena hasn’t let go of her hand and Kara awkwardly pulls away. “Although someone told me I’m both terrible at apple picking and guitar playing.” 

“You know I was teasing,” Lena states, leaning her head on Kara’s shoulder. 

“Well go on, take her for a spin,” Rheinard says, handing his guitar in Kara’s direction. 

“Oh that’s alright, I’ll pass tonight. Maybe next time.” 

“Sure, next time.” 

Sean’s eyes are boring into her skull and Kara finally looks at him. There’s no judgement there, it’s almost like he’s trying to read her or place her. 

“Say have we met before?” he asks, and Kara pushes her glasses against her face. “You’re awfully familiar.” 

Kara swallows and offers him a tight smile. “I’m afraid this is my first time in Dingle, you’re probably confusing me with someone you know.” 

“You sure?” 

“Positive.” 

“Stop flirting with her, Sean, you’re old enough to be her dad,” Lena states. She doesn’t intend it to hurt but Kara feels that statement punch her in the gut and she untangles herself from Lena. If Lena’s hurt, she doesn’t show it. Kara should have known that the pretence happiness could only last so long.

“It’s late so.. I think I’m going to head out,” Kara states, “it was nice meeting you guys.”

With that she turns and pushes her way through the crowd and out of the bar. Once outside, Kara finally feels like she can breathe and the tears threaten to spill. 

“You okay?” she hears Lena ask from the bar doorway and Kara puts on her brave face.

“Yeah, you bet. Just tired.”

“Okay… do you want me to walk you home? I can gather up Winn and Aedan.”

Kara offers Lena a small smile and shakes her head. 

“No no, you guys have fun. Seriously, everything is fine. Go have fun, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

It looks like Lena wants to argue but something seems to reason with the other girl and she chooses instead to wrap her arms around Kara for a quick hug before pulling away. 

“See you tomorrow.” 

And then she’s gone. On the way home, Kara lets the tears go. The weather matches her mood and Kara arrives home sober and soaking wet. She strips, falls into bed, and lets herself fall asleep with the aching of missing her family creating a blackhole in her chest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first song Lena plays is Drink the Night Way by Gaelic Storm in case anyone is interested! 
> 
> Yell at me @ kryptolvthor.tumblr.com


End file.
